Laurie Koehn
Born: May 13, 1982 (Newton, Kansas)
Graduated: Moundridge H.S., 2000 / Kansas State University 2005

It’s too bad the WNBA doesn’t have a team with a “Wildcats” mascot, otherwise fate would’ve dictated Laurie Koehn would’ve been on it. Koehn will be inducted today for her basketball achievements with the Moundridge High School Wildcats, Kansas State Wildcats and sadly, a slew of professional teams not named the Wildcats.

Playing point guard, Koehn led the Moundridge Wildcats to four straight class 2A state title games, including three championships in 1997, 1998, and 1999. She holds state high school records in both free-throw percentage and three-point baskets made.

While in high school, and later at K-State, Koehn was invited twice to the United States U18 and U19 national team for qualifying tournaments. In 2000, Team USA won five games in five days by a 50-point margin to qualify for the FIBA 2001 Women's Junior World Championship. Koehn averaged 12.4 points per game throughout the tournament. In 2003, Koehn’s Team USA, made up primarily of young college players, took bronze at the Pan-American games against squads made up of former Olympians.

Koehn continued her winning ways when she arrived on campus in Manhattan by helping lead the Wildcats to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. She was named to the All-Big 12 team three times during her career.

Koehn literally rewrote the K-State record book and her statistics are still incredible. She finished her career third in career scoring with 1,733 points, just behind teammates and fellow KSHOF inductees Kendra Wecker and Nicole Ohlde. A sharp-shooter from the outside, Koehn set the career K-State, Big 12, and NCAA record for three point makes with 392. She also set the conference mark for career free throw percent at 87.7%.

Koehn didn’t just give all-out effort on the court either, she did it in the classroom as well. She was named to the Big 12 All-Academic team three times from 2003 to 2005. She also earned first-team Academic All-American honors in 2004 and second-team Academic All-American honors in 2005.

In 2005, Koehn was signed by the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. She would play four seasons in the WNBA with Washington, before moving onto other professional leagues overseas, including stints in Poland, France, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Australia. Koehn returned to the WNBA for one season with the Atlanta Dream in 2012.

Koehn’s professional experience helped her land an assistant coaching position at the University of Northern Colorado in 2015. Her hands-on experience helped guide the Bears to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance. In 2018, Koehn moved up the coaching ranks to an associate head coach position with a team that does have a cat mascot, the Washington State University Cougars.

Her career in basketball is still in the making but today, the state of Kansas gets an opportunity to honor one of the greatest players to grace the hardwood in the Sunflower State. Imagine there are a lot of Wildcats rejoicing with Laurie Koehn today too.